slowing down

I had a major revelation this week. I tend to overcommit myself. It's not anyone's fault, but my own. I have so many exciting things I want to do, but I just don't have the time or the energy to do them!

Among the things I want to do and have semi-committed myself to doing in the past couple of months include:
-training for and running a 5K
-eating "clean" as much as possible
-teaching summer voice lessons
-painting, remodeling, updating our new house
-getting back into a 5-day-a-week gym routine
-trying to make more money having a part-time job
-playing league tennis
-worship leading as much as possible

and these are on top of the housewife/mommy/nurse/housekeeper roles that I'm already fulfilling (and take top priority).

If I could, there are even more things I would add in a second to my list of desires. Traveling, reading, blogging, late night get-togethers with friends, and more would fill my time completely up! But the truth is, even with trying to do all of these things, I'm finding I'm more and more unhappy doing the things I love. I'm starting to cut things down. Don't let me disappoint you if I've committed to do something for or with you. I would LOVE to, but it's just going to have to wait.

Maybe when the kids are all in school and I have more time during the day to play. Maybe then I can take up tennis again. Or every year pick one or two things on my list to delve into. Or maybe when the kids leave for college. We'll see.

But one thing I know. My life looks a lot better when it's not filled to the brim with STUFF to do. Even stuff I love to do. Sure, there are things we need to get done, like the house, but I can do that if I'm not doing 20 other activities that day, and the kids don't suffer.

So I'm paring down. And I'm excited about it.

it's (one of the) most wonderful times of the year...

The older I get, the more I like summer. Not just because of the pool, the relaxing warm showers after the pool (and the long naps the kids take after the pool), the sno-cones, the lazy Sundays, the vacations, and my birthday.

I love all the tennis!! This weekend is the French Open finals. Next month is Wimbledon. then August and September is the US Open. I love it!

80's TV

With the death of Gary Coleman this week, I began thinking about all of the hours I spent watching fabulous television as a kid. What great memories and fantastic TV!! Anything on air today pales in comparison to these awesome shows. The wit, the humor, the one-of-a-kind storylines! Genius! Some of my favorites are:

Be still my heart! What a handsome man this guy was! And he got to watch those kids every day! I wanted a live-in babysitter just like Charles! Oh... love him!

She was the epitome of cool. Spunky. Fashionable. (I mean, who else would think of tying bandanas around your knees?!) Had an awesome dog. And a cool voice.

Ok. Can you think of another show that has a better plotline than this one? Two guys who's apartment building burns in NYC and the only place they can find to rent is a women's only building. So every time they go home, they have to dress in women's clothing. All the women know them as women, but they lead lives of quiet desperation. Love it!

This one is Out of This World. Literally. Evie here can stop time by touching her fingers together and then talk to her dad who is an alien through a crystal that lives on their livingroom coffee table.

To be honest, I loved this show. I'm not sure why, really. And I feel like it wasn't on for very long, to my dismay. Plotline is simple- a dad, who also coaches basketball at the high school, and mom have 10 kids. And the funny-ness ensues. I wished there was more to enjoy.

Ah.... Small Wonder. Where the daughter is really a robot. But not everyone knows it. That's pretty much it. It was wonderful.

This is a classic, obviously. Everyone has seen an episode of Who's the Boss, right? I just loved when Tony and Angela finally fell in love (toward the end of the running...), but man it was good TV.

And Perfect Strangers. Another classic. I'll leave it to wikipedia to explain it's simple premise:The series chronicles the rocky coexistence of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). A Wisconsin native, Larry, who comes from a large family with numerous brothers and sisters, has just moved into a new apartment in Chicago, and is experiencing his first joys of newfound privacy when Balki, a hitherto unknown cousin from a Greek-like island in the Mediterranean called Mypos, drops by to live with him. Balki, a shepherd by trade, interprets what little he knows about the United States by relying on his own recollections of American pop culture, which are often out-of-context ("America... Land of my dreams, home of the Whopper").

Of course there are ones I have left out like The Wonder Years, Growing Pains, and the ones I watched sometimes but didn't really care for, like Night Court and (gasp) Cheers. But who doesn't wish all of the CSI and Law & Order shows were replaced for more of this! (Don't flog me for that comment. :)

our new house!!

This morning we closed on our new house! I'm so excited to get in there and update it like crazy and get our stuff in there! Living out of bins and with 90% of your stuff in the garage is not a great long-term situation. (By the way, one of the FIRST things to go are those awnings. It makes the house so dark inside! We need sunlight, baby!)

This is the back of the house. The picture was taken in early spring, so the lush St. Ausgustine grass hadn't come out yet (but I knew it was there!) Direct your attention at all the windows lining the back of the house! Yay!! The addition on the right side of the picture will be our studio.

I am SO excited to have people over here and watch ministry take place and friendships grow! This is such an inviting backyard. And it has a wonderful patio area. The trees are huge and allow shaded sunlight through to the whole yard. Helloooooo morning coffee! I have a feeling Deron will learn to climb trees in that one of the left.

As we start getting things updated and doing work, I'll try to keep this updated. Before/after pics are so fun!